Critics have lashed out at Time magazine for including "feminist" in their proposed list of words that should be banned in 2015.

According to the American weekly magazine the word feminist is too easily thrown around by celebrities.

Describing why you might vote for the selection, the magazine wrote: "You have nothing against feminism itself, but when did it become a thing that every celebrity had to state their position on whether this word applies to them, like some politician declaring a party? Let’s stick to the issues and quit throwing this label around like ticker tape at a Susan B. Anthony parade."

Time magazine's annual word banishment poll, now in its fourth year, asks readers to vote on a number of words that make them "cringe". Previous words that were 'cast off the island' include OMG, YOLO and twerk. 

On this year's list, feminist sits alongside the phrase "om nom nom nom", "sorry not sorry" and "obvi". However feminist is winning by a large margin, currently with 50 percent of the votes. 

The suggestion that feminist is a negative word, has received on onslaught of criticism on the internet. 

"The fact that a well-respected publication like Time would even consider including "feminist" on a list of words that should be banned is unfathomable," writes Emma Gray, Senior Editor of HuffPost Women. 

A tweet from Planned Parenthood, a reproductive healthcare and education organisation in America, read, “TIME thinks the word 'feminist' should be banned? We think reductive attacks on feminism should be banned. #justsayin.”

Others also took to Twitter to voice their reactions to the poll:

The poll also includes the word "bossy" referring to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Ban Bossy campaign, which has been backed by celebrities from Beyonce to Jennifer Garner. 

"If Sheryl wants a word banned, then we best get banning," reads the summary of the word on Time's poll.

As for the inclusion of "feminist", here's a little reminder of why feminism is not a dirty word.